soon as I am getting around more... I seriously threw my back out, dealing with hurrican debris and stupidly walking through mud almost knee- deep to see if there was anything salvageable in garden.
My neighbor across street just had an operation to fuse discs in her back-- AAARRGGHH!! I don't want to do that!!
this is just plain old, garden variety ARTHRITIS. Are there any forums on here that you know of - bound to be aching backs in a list devoted to gardening! thanks! must be some sort of remedy that will help some..
hey, funny goat story.. let me check and see if I have already listed it..nope- I have told so many people--
I had a store-bought peach pie in freezer, just KNEW the power was gonna go out the way the wind was blowing- so as soon as biscuits came out for breakfast, in went the pie while the oven was good and hot. and out went the lights, about 30 min later- didn't open the oven till it cooled, so the pie got about 1/2 baked. I ate a little, off the top, then just took it to the critters. Gave the donkey the top crust cause he needs the calories... the little goat was stepping on my foot and begging-- so I let him have a go at the filling, nothing else wanted it.
wow! Peach pie filling is the natural food for short fat goats! He hooked his chin over the rim, and just dug in. Eventually, had his whole face in it, dripping off his chin whiskers-- hilarious! ought to be SOMETHING funny out of whole experience!
anyone dealing with Bad Goats- specifically buck goats?
Love the image of the goat loving the pie. Aren't animals wonderful!
He sounds like a regular little pig. LOL
My grandma had arthritis and she treated it with lemon juice. The juice of a medium lemon every morning in a cup of warm water. As long as she did that she had no problems. If she ran out of lemons she started hurting. She swore by it.
well, I'm off to the store for some lemons. :-)
What I have done in the past, and stupidly stopped ( well it IS expensive) is to get from JEFFERS, in the equine section, the Cosequin HA treats. They have hyaluronic (sp) acid, which somehow works in same manner as glucosamine/chondroitin -- which I cannot take, they do bad things to my stomach. ( yes, they are horse treats, but read the ingredients)
however, even though these treat have a type of ACID in them, so it says, they are delicious! and do no harm whatever.
when I used them before, I used my knuckes as a marker-- when the swelling btw first and second started to go down, I knew it was better.
been doing it about a week.. and it's better..
BTW- finally went, sniffling and snuffling to the chiropracter, waiting to hear I needed back surgery.
pop pop pop- said I had the "typical" duck hunters injury; they get it from pulling their heavy boots out of the muck.
ibuprofen, rest and no garden work unless I don't sink in ground. ha ha!
Fish oil is supposed to be helpful too.
PM, if you start craving hay you'd better give up those treats. LOL
nope, no hay cravings yet. But my donkey does give me "kisses" so.. but he's always done that.
I just hope to have some hay to crave- ha ha! we are not packed in for winter yet, no hay! working on shed, and hay spot is BARE! scary!
And blackbirds are starting to flock here, in noticeable numbers...
We bought 100 bales on the weekend but with 6 horses and 6 goats it won't last as long as I'd like.
the man I had contacted for hay was planning on having it cut THIS WEEK. He might as well have thrown it off the Ark.
I sure hope it's still standing... and maybe he can get it in next week.
I am currently wondering WHY we have a draft mule. He's already eyed me expectantly, wanting to keep his nice round figure.
I have several friends with mules but have never had one myself.
oh my. That's like saying "I've never eaten potato chips, why do people like them so much?"
ha ha!
most dogs, heck, most PEOPLE don't have as much personality as this mule.
I would counsel you to RUN! ha ha! stay away!
I am impatient at times and a mule has a good memory so I had better steer clear of them. LOL
They're very high on my list of must-haves.....
Someday
I rode a friend's mule on Sunday. He is gaited and a nice guy but a bit choppy for this old bod.
Are you used to riding gaited animals? mules are usually exceptionally smooth- were you perhaps pushing his "past" his gait?
if he was going at a good speed, try this to smooth it out. SIT BACK. feet forward, balancing weight on your foot-ball area in stirrups.
pull back just a bit on the rein, see if he knows what you are talking about and bends his head at the pole.
if it's stiff as a block of wood, talk him slower with your voice, and when he slips into a fast walk, brandish your riding crop sidways, so that he can see it.
that will scoot up his hind end, and you will hit the groove again, so to speak.
once they figure out the gait you want, they usually try to stay with it, as it is easier for them and requires less energy than a trot or a lope.
hope this helps. it seems odd, at first, to sit BACK to speed UP, but it works.
I ride gaited horses all the time. I own 5 of them. Black Jack, the mule in question, is bad about nosing out. He has been ridden with a tie down trying to correct it but it hasn't helped. My friend took him on a trail ride down in Tn and vows he will never take him again. The mule never calms down and quits pulling so he will smooth out. He racks every step but it's choppy because he is always pulling. After a 30 mile ride he still never quit pulling. His legs are like pistons. Up and down so fast they are like a blur.
I don't think that mules have the best of shock absorbers either.
I dont know what to do with a puller like that. The last gaited horse I rode had such a hard mouth, from pulling, that he was very similiar. I had to keep pressure on him the whole time, talked to him, nothing worked. When I got off him my legs were so trembly I could hardly stand, I am too old for that!
hey, most ATVs don't have the best shock absorbers either! ha ha!
we used to have a gaited horse, a little Spanish horse, that was very hot, a real puller, when I was young. I kept working at it, in a ring, little by little, till he calmed down. But it was a touchy thing- you had to sit still, and only use the snaffle. Evidently he had been really hurt by curb bits. Like you say, the head came up- star gazing my grandaddy called it, and he got real silly at that point.
I was once told by a very wise riding instructor, "The reins have two ends; one end alone cannot pull."
Shaq had nearly been ruined before i got him and his mouth was as hard as. I had to use a horrible big bit on him for him to even feel it but he was very respectful of it. He gave to it when he knew it was there. Some horses just don't give to the bit and they fight it. If they don't respect it they pull. I hate it when that happens.
Have you tried a hackamore? sometimes helps with hard-mouthed horses...:)
I don't have any hard mouthed horses anymore. Shaq had been shown padded and they like them to lean on the bit. Not my cup of tea. I use a Tom Thumb with short shanks on all my horses except Max. He uses a simple snaffle. I lost Shaq to a freak accident in the barn. He fell and broke his neck. I was devastated.
Sad for you Cajun, was just imagining how I'd feel if something like that happened to my donkey. I sure do need to clean his lot up for him, it is still a mess. Keep thinking I can do it after I get my truck out of the shop. I bought an old diesel GMC that needed some work done on it. The mechanics have sure put off working on it. It's been months now.
Likely because you are a woman.
Maybe so. My mistake was saying I am in no hurry too. They finally got it running by putting in an electric gas pump and a new gas tank, the old one had a hole in it. So, it is now running, then I said, well what about the steering, it had a lot of play in the steering wheel. So I took a gear box to them. It is now sitting outside again. I think they've had it since Aug. The owner looks like he is getting sick, the wife who runs the office seems fine, but he looks awfully sick to me. The son is in there being trained to take his place I guess.
He is the best mechanic in town, in my opinion, and I feel bad for him.
hi- just checking in-- sorry about the donkey! I would have been devastated too! I love the mule, but after awhile, he walks away- the donkey is a sweet boy.
Except when I put a halter on him, then his eyes get wild, and he's really hard to hold. I guess there must have been a reason for that, before I got him...
Anyway, I have found what I hope is a wonder-halter-- the Be NIce halter- got it in draft size.
you have to look for it. it uses the knots and pressure like a hackamore, but fastens neatly and easily, like English harness- looks classy-- I will let you know how it goes.
I sure wish I could send you my car repair man. He's got kinda long hair, has a big sign up that say " if you can't pay don't bring your vehicle here"
he's great.
Hope your fella gets better, if you find a good one, treasure them!
do you think we should start a new heading on the front page here?
instead of farm animals, we could enter "hard headed animals" -- that pretty much sums it up, what we have been talking about.
I dug out 1 stall last night. Need to do one more and top dress 3 others. It's never ending but I love having the horses so I don't complain...much. LOL
you are ahead of me, then. I need to do the big open stall, bad, for the winter. I wish I could figger out which llama is pooping in there, I would like to change his mind about that!! I shut them out several days, hoping they will make a new place out in the pasture, but just as soon as I open that gate- there it is!! Fresh! For shame!
How many llamas do you have? I've always admired llamas, such beautiful eyes! - But I've never had more than a casual acquaintance with any.